Cornell has a very strong program. However, it's not (yet?) part of the super tag team of Harvard and Stanford, for instance. It's still an Ivy League school though with awesome resources and reputation and definitely worth checking out. Other than that, I don't know much unfortunately - just that a very smart Italian that I know is a 1st year MBA student there

I have wondered this same question myself several times. My best guess is that Cornell and Yale's rankings have suffered because they are not in major cities. I think most people (myself included) would rather go to school in a city rather than in a small New England town. My guess would be that the students who have their choice of top schools would likely select one in a city. Just a guess though.

Thanks for your responses, guys.

Hman, you bring up a good point. The school being in a not-so-urban area would probably be the most logical conclusion I can draw as to why its not considered much by applicants.

And maybe the fact that its not located in a large city leads to most financially appealing positions with good companies being filled first by candidates from state schools (or top schools near large cities). Thus making the school (Johnson SOM) a lower return on investment.

If anyone else has any insight on this, please let me know.